Silver Lake Field Trips
This fall, WEST and EAST fellows took hundreds of 4-7th grade students on a field trip to Silver Lake at the top of Big Cottonwood Canyon. Many of the students had never been in the canyon and were amazed at the diversity and beauty that exists so close to their homes. Students rotated through five science stations where they learned about geology, meteorology, water quality, plant ecology, and animal adaptations.
Students used LabQuest hand-held computers and water testing probes to measure the temperature, pH, turbidity, and total dissolved solid content of the water at Silver Lake.
WEST Fellow and geologist, Keith Christianson, helped students identify macroinvertebrates that they netted in the lake. The students then
located the bugs on a Biotic Index of Water Quality to determine the relative level of pollution in the water.
The final step was to compare the
results from the probe data to those from the macroinvertebrate data to
determine the relative quality of the water in the lake. It turns out
that Silver Lake is in great shape!
WEST Fellow and geologist, Kit Clemons, used block models to demonstrate to 7th graders how plate tectonics and faulting helped form the Wasatch Mountains.
WEST Fellow and biologist, Jimmy Ruff, queries students about their
observations of vegetation differences on north vs. south facing slopes.
WEST Fellow Greg Carling and students try to determine what kind of animal is making THAT NOISE!
Students use hand-held weather stations to measure temperature, humidity, barometric pressure, and wind speed.
WEST Fellow and meteorologist, Maura Hahnenberger, helped the students understand why these measurements are different in the mountains than they are in the valley.
